About Kim Colwell

A Fresh Approach | Interior Design Consultant

Kim Colwell is a Los Angeles–based interior designer known for her strikingly original, transformational approach. An NYU Tisch–trained artist and second-generation feng shui master, as well as a designer, Kim creates interiors that promote harmony, inspire creativity, and encourage individuality. Working across many decorative genres, she marries high style with high vibes, creating gorgeous, signature spaces that empower her clients as individuals, couples, families, teams — and feel as fabulous as they look. It’s no wonder that Kim has been heralded as an “urban healer” by C magazine and seen the Beverly Hills jewelry boutique she designed called “One of the coolest stores in the US” by Instore.

Through a unique approach that she dubs “Transformational Interior Design,” Kim discovers each client’s personal vision, sensibility and lifestyle goals, to create a personalized design concept that captures their individual essence while evoking a warm, inviting atmosphere. Her mission is to design spaces that are as meaningful as they are beautiful; to help her clients feel empowered and inspired in the places where they live and work.

Kim works on a full range of projects, from smaller, boutique spaces to high-level/high-concept residential, office or retail remodels. Through her celebrated Interior Stylist service, Kim consults in-person or virtual to help you revitalize and re-style your existing home, office or store with smaller re-freshes.

Kim has designed homes and retail spaces for a diverse range of clientele, including: jewelry designers Erica Courtney and Alan Friedman,Grammy and Academy Award–nominated producers and musicians, and leaders in the fields of fashion, health, beauty and wellness. Her projects have been featured in Lucky, WWD, Pasadena and Angeleno magazines, among others. As an expert, Kim has appeared in the pages of Shape magazine, as well as in several books, including How To Be Well, by health Guru Dr Frank Lipman.

My Journey

My development as an interior design consultant is rooted in my eclectic training in art, the study of feng shui and the psychology of design. It is also born from a lifetime of tutelage from my mother, Melinda Joy Miller, founder of the Shambhalla Institute. These profound influences have given me a unique perspective and approach to creating spaces that have more layers than only the aesthetic.

My mother began her career as a cultural anthropologist, then as a sensory-motor integrative therapist. In the process, she developed a method of creating environments that could shift the developmental process of her clients, springboarding a new way to see space as an influence on our psyche and behavior. She went on to author the Shamanic Gardening: Timeless Techniques for the Modern Sustainable Garden and founded the Shambhalla Institute for the study and application of how the environment influences one’s life. My mother has been a pioneer in the field of feng shui; the first to fuse feng shui with psychological and Native American principles.

I grew up absorbing her knowledge. As a child raised in both an urban landscape as well as a magical 120 acre farm outside of Philadelphia, I became a product of my environment.

Growing up absorbing her knowledge, I began to express myself through art and design at an early age. At age ten, I was chosen for my first juried art show. In high school, I danced with a regional ballet company before pursuing my BFA at NYU Tisch. This led to the first chapter of my career as a fine artist, illustrator and animator. I loved illustration. It gave me the opportunity to let my imagination flow. I worked on projects for Nike, Atlantic Records, Disney, Utne Reader, David LaChapelle, and Moby, and was honored to have US News & World Report showcase one of my animation projects.

I was always intrigued with the psychology that is reflected in the arts and interiors: I loved exploring the visual ways that people express themselves and define their personality—particularly through the spaces they created to be in every day. Over time, I began using space as my canvas, and began applying the same eye for composition, style, and color balance I’d learned in art and illustration to interiors and furniture design.

At the same time, my childhood experiences—absorbing my mother’s knowledge of feng shui, sensitized to the psychology of space, and livingintimately connected with nature—all began to permeate my approach to interior design. I began to develop my own distinctive method—one that melds intuition and insight with grounded, modern sensibilities. I call this “Transformational Interior Design”. It is a multifaceted approach, born from a fusion of formal and experiential education.

My childhood experiences of absorbing my mother’s knowledge of feng shui, the psychology of space, and of experiencing myself as intimately connected with nature, began to permeate my interior design approach. I began to develop my own distinctive way of doing interior design—one that melds intuition and insight with grounded, modern sensibilities. I call this “Transformational Interior Design,” and it is a multifaceted approach, born from a fusion of formal and experiential education.

On the one hand, I use interior design psychology to find ways to express my client’s unique voice within the design concept while using the space as a tool to trigger their personal desired response. By merging interior design and psychology there is a holistic approach that gives an end result that can feel deeply meaningful to the people living or working in their space.

On the other, I use feng shui to evoke a warm, soulful feeling from the environment. The location, setting, and structural features impact the use, flow, balance and feel of a space. As I balance intuition and life-long studies, it has been wonderful to be able to redirect and optimize the energetic feel of the room or building while protecting their sacred aspects.

Philosophy

Today more than ever, we are aware that our surroundings are never incidental or insignificant. Our homes and businesses act as dynamic systems that have the power to impact every aspect of our physical, mental-emotional, and even spiritual well-being. The spaces we choose to live and work in can stimulate our creativity, harmonize our relationships, and nourish our fulfillment, or they can inadvertently stifle these attributes and bring the opposite result. As an interior design consultant I have the power to inspire, heal, and empower my clients.

My mission as an interior design consultant is to holistically integrate artistic design principles with psychology and feng shui and to create warm, gorgeous and personalized environments for everyone! I regularly gift consultation services to people in need and regularly donate clients un-used furnishings to Habitat for Humanity or Beyond Shelter, a non-profit temporary housing for the homeless. I practice a deep mindfulness of sustainability in design, re-purposing furnishings whenever possible and up-cycling them to shelters for families in times of transition.

What makes my work so special is that it is applicable to everyone. I hope we will have an opportunity to connect and delve into making your environment a beautiful, inspiring space for you to live, work or play.